Expedition: Everest

The people in front of us at our gate step onto their train and are soon on their way. The next train is ours! I’m excited and nervous at the same time. I’ve seen videos of the ride, but what will it feel like???

The next train pulls in, and the gate opens. Okay, deep breath, Brad. Benjamin hops in the right-hand seat and I slide down into the left one. Bob and Brandon are behind us. I toss my pin lanyard and Passporter into the loose items pouch in front of us, at our feet, and then pull the restraint back. It locks. No getting out now!

We accelerate out of the loading station and into a gentle turn to the right, climb a small hill, and then speed into a left turn at the base of the mountain. There’s a waterfall ahead of us. The scenery around us is actually very beautiful – I love that this is a “ground coaster,” at this point at least, one which follows the hills and curves of the ground rather than an obviously artificial steel or wooden structure.

The train does a tight 180 to the left and we click onto a steep – very steep! – slope. And like magic, once the teeth catch in the lift mechanism, the clicking stops, and we climb silently towards the summit. Disney knew that a real train wouldn’t click like a normal roller coaster does on a lift hill, so they engineered out the clicking sound!

This hill really is very steep. It feels as if we are on our backs, staring up into the sky.

As we climb, I look down to our right. I spot Becky and her mom and then tell the others, and we start yelling and waving at them. They never hear us or wave back.

Two-thirds of the way up the hill we pass through a temple decorated with more images of the yeti. Hmm… wonder if he’ll show up.

We crest the top of the hill near the peak of Forbidden Mountain and suddenly there is snow around us and a chill in the air! We drop into a sharp left-hand turn, through a brief tunnel, and suddenly we screech to a stop. The tracks ahead of us are twisted and mangled – and an ominous roar echoes around us. Uh oh.

Suddenly the train begins to move again – backwards! We plunge into total darkness, and as soon as we do, we are in a series of incredibly sharp turns and drops. The G-forces are incredibly intense! The darkness is absolute, and I have no idea which way we are going from one second to another.

We come to a stop once again. It’s still dark, but light is shining in from somewhere and hitting the cave wall up ahead of us – in fact, we can see the shadow of the train track on the wall. Suddenly, though, we also see the shadow of a large beast – the Yeti! – as he leaps onto the track and rips it apart!

Our train starts forward now, and we plunge back into darkness and start a turn to the left. All at once we find ourselves plummeting into the daylight, outdoors, and then back into the mountain, and then again outside and around until we’re back inside once. Ah – these are the two sections of turning track that can be seen on the lower left of the mountain face.

Back in the mountain, we enter a cave, and suddenly the Yeti is above us – a massive shaggy beast with scary eyes, big fangs, and long arms, one of which is being swung at us as we pass by. His claws almost get us, I swear!

I knew we’d see the Yeti, and that we’d go by him in a flash, but I’m amazed at how big the thing is. It’s huge – and pretty scary, even knowing he’s an audio-animatronics.

He is an audio-animatronics, isn’t he?

After our encounter with the Yeti, we exit the mountain for the final time and glide towards the station. I start to breath again.

That was The. Most. Amazing. Coaster. Ever! And I’m not alone in thinking so – our entire trainload of people bursts into applause and cheers -- just like at Soarin’ yesterday!